Controlled Chaos
by Pyocola Analogue III
Summary: AU Because they always knew what they were doing; even if it didn't seem like it. Sequel of sorts to my story Sonata. SoMa There is some swearing, hence the rating.


Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Eater. I do, however, own the plot. And, yes, this is a very short sequel to Sonata; however, if you have not read that on, you should still be able to follow pretty well. There isn't anything referencing to specific scenes or chapters from that story.

Controlled Chaos

The Evans household had its own sort of system that was not the slightest bit organized but worked for its occupants. Being a successful pianist, Soul Evans normally spent about ten hours a day rehearsing with the orchestra he had joined shortly after the move here. He would leave every morning, at six o'clock, and usually be home around two or three in the afternoon. He would be greeted by a quick kiss from his wife, Maka, before she would have to dart off and separate the older two kids from some petty argument. While she handled that, their tiny two and a half year old, Melody Amber, would come rushing to him, doing that half run-half duck waddle she did. Normally he would pick her up, take her to her room and tuck her in for her afternoon nap. He would sit there, humming the notes to whatever tune they were learning to play, and she would doze off, oblivious to the sounds of her siblings energetic squabbling and her mother's impatient orders at them to knock it off.

That was how things normally went; however, they were not normally babysitting the four children born to their long time friends Black*Star and Tsubaki.

The two had come by to spend a two week vacation in Britain, visiting with their old friends, Today, however, was actually their wedding anniversary and they had wanted to spend the day alone. Soul and Maka had agreed, seeing as the four young children seemed well behaved whenever they had been around them, thinking it would be nice for their children to get to know one another better. When wishing their parents farewell, they had seemed well enough behaved to Maka (since Soul was already at work by this point); the minute that door shut, however, three of those children turned into tiny, vicious replicants of their father.

And, to Maka, that was her living Hell.

Ayame (1), the second child and first girl, despite only being seven, tried her best to help her caretaker rein in her rambunctious siblings. However, her brothers, Bright*Star being nine like Maka's oldest, Yuki, was clearly running the show. When he said jump, the younger two, five year old Ryuji and three year old Sayuri (2) said how high. And when he told them to raise Hell for the blonde haired woman whom was beginning to contemplate drowning them in the bathroom tub?

They would do that with the utmost readiness.

When Soul walked in and saw Maka and the little Tsubaki-mini-me chasing a naked and squealing Sayuri up the staircase all he could be was blink a few times in alarm. "Welcome home, Papa," Yuki's voice chimed from the couch. He glanced over, seeing his two oldest kids watching their mother from over the back of the couch.

Yuki looked just like her father, from the silver locks to the ruby eyes and even the shark teeth. She was, however, a dignified young lady in every sense of the word… Unless her mischievous little brother, one-month-from-being-seven-and-don't-you-forget-it Gregory, was in one of his feisty moods. The two had the standard big sister-little brother relationship, really; he would torment her and she would beat the living Hell out of him, and then feign innocence when the adults got involved. Soul walked over, kissed her cheek, and then ruffled the honey colored locks of his only son affectionately. Like his father and sister, the young boy had inherited the Evans family eyes, but not the pointed teeth. "So, any reason you two aren't helping your mother?"

"I tried," Gregory said flatly, "but then Bright*Star declared 'I am going to be a God like my father and don't you forget it!', slammed a door in my face and gave me a bloody nose. Personally, I would like to keep my money maker intact, thank you very much." Soul chuckled at his son's words. Gregory was sort of like the perfect mixture of he and Maka, really. While he was intelligent and well-read, like his mother, he was a complete smart ass with a great amount of musical potential, like his father. Soul then looked at Yuki and she pointed at her brother.

"And after seeing what that moron did to Greggie, I was not particularly interested in trying my hand. I mean, he has no idea how to behave around a lady like myself," She said calmly, tossing a lock of her long hair over her shoulder. Gregory rested his chin in his palm and smiled at her.

"Oh, that's right, you are a girl, aren't you, Yuki?" He asked excitedly, only a touch of sarcasm crawling into his voice. His sister let out an insulted huff and started to open her mouth when Soul snapped his fingers at them.

"Don't you two start up now," He said calmly. And that was when he heard the whimpering. Soul turned to see Melody Amber hiding by the staircase, emerald orbs wide and watery with tears. Every alarm in his head as a father went off and he crossed to her in a few quick strides, picking his little duckling up. "Hey, what's wrong now?" He asked gently, holding her close and rubbing soothing circles into her back.

"She's missing her nap. Those three have been so loud, and running all around slamming doors, that she couldn't fall asleep," Yuki informed him. Soul glanced at the clock and made a face. It was half past three; well after the time Melody was always tucked in for her nap. And he knew it wasn't just that he was late, either. In fact, Melody could fall asleep as long as one of her parents was serenading her down.

He felt a small bubble of rage fill him up as they heard a loud crash from upstairs, followed by a loud wordless shriek from his wife. Apparently he was going to have to handle this; the Soul Evans way. "Yuki, go help your Mama and Ayame round up those three little demon spawn. Get Sayuri dressed and then bring them all down here," He said strictly, turning to look at his kids. The two exchanged glances before she climbed off the couch and pattered off as he said. "Greggie, get the cushions off the couch and get the pull out bed set up. Bring out the extra pillows and blankets we have in the closet. Oh, and grab Mr. Floppity from Melody's room." He said calmly.

Greggie made a small noise of protest but still did as he was told. Within ten minutes everything was set up. In that time, Soul had gotten out his acoustic guitar (the poor, duty old relic that he rarely used) and settled little Melody Amber on a part of the pull out with her stuffed rabbit, Mr. Floppity. He eyed the three whining Nakatsukasa kids and vowed to rip their father a new one for raising a crop of loud-mouths. Maka had managed to "gently coax" Ryuji and Sayuri to lie down on the bed as well, though they were sitting up and protesting the whole thing. "Boats and Birds," Soul said suddenly. Maka looked at him curiously, as if she hadn't heard him right. "Boats and Birds, okay?" He clarified.

"Uh, sure," She said while blinking a little bit. With no more words started to pluck along on the guitar, calling to mind the melody of the song. The soft, delicate plunking noise effectively silence the three fussy children and Maka joined in.

_If you'll be my star  
Then I'll be your sky  
You can hide underneath me and come out at night  
When I turn jet black and you show off your light  
I live to let you shine  
I live to let you shine_

The children all fell silent, though Soul did see both his older kids grin as they settled down. Yuki plopped into the arm chair, lying with her legs dangling over one end, while Gregory sat on the floor with his back pressed the side of the piece of furniture. The two remembered this lullaby from where they were their sister's age and their parents would perform it for them after a particularly bad night terror.

_But you can skyrocket away from me  
And never come back if you find another galaxy  
Far from here with more room to fly  
Just leave me your stardust to remember you by_

Though she no longer performed (instead settling into the life of an at-home mother), Maka's voice was still just as soothing and beautiful as it had ever been. When they performed together like this, he sometimes missed the days they'd spent together, back in Death City. Back when they hated each other, and enjoyed trying to make one another's life a living Hell, and only played to get what they needed out of one another.

Ah, yes, theirs was a love story for the ages.

_If you be my boat  
I'll be your sea  
A depth of pure blue just to probe curiosity  
Ebbing and flowing and pushed by a breeze  
I live to make you free  
I live to make you free_

He glanced at the Nakatsukasa brats and had to fight back the urge to let a sum smirk crawl onto his face. The little brats were all starting to get groggy; in fact, little Sayuri was curled up against her pillow with fluttering eyelids. That was the magic of Maka's voice, though. She sang with such clarity that it could soothe even the most savage of beasts.

_But you can set sail to the west if you want to  
And past the horizon till I can't even see you  
Far from here where the beaches are wide  
Just leave me your wake to remember you by_

It didn't take long before all seven children were out like lights. Despite them being asleep, though, the pair kept going to be sure. After all, who was the say that the three Hell-spawn wouldn't spring back to life if the lullaby was left unfinished? But he did grin when he saw that cute little Ayame was settled in next to Gregory, snoozing contently on his shoulder. His son's head had plopped on top of her head; an adorable sight that would certainly have Maka fighting back giggles when she noticed.

Soul was just glad to see that his son had inherited his good taste in female companions.

_If you be my star  
I'll be your sky  
You can hide underneath me and come out at night  
When I turn jet black and you show off your light  
I live to let you shine  
I live to let you shine_

_But you can skyrocket away from me  
And never come back if you find another galaxy  
Far from here with more room to fly  
Just leave me your stardust to remember you by  
Stardust to remember you by (1)_

As soon as the last chords fell silent, the two adults watched in slight horror, hoping that it had worked. After three straight minutes of staring, and none of the children so much as making a peep, they smiled at one another and crept to the kitchen, where the children would be undisturbed by their chatter. "We are never doing this again," Soul said as soon as the kitchen door swung shut behind Maka.

"I love Tsubaki to death, but, my God, those three are just a handful! And I thought that Gregory and Yuki could be bad sometimes," She agreed with a shake of her head. She had to hand it to her dear friend, though; she really did have the patience of a saint. She had thought she knew that as soon as they received news of her first pregnancy but after spending a day with her best friend's "four little sweethearts"? Yeah, only one of the bath had not soured, apparently, and she was not looking forward to breaking that news.

"Keeping Melody Amber up like that… Fuckin' disrespectful!" Soul hissed grumpily while pouring himself a glass of water. A cheeky smile crept on to his wife's face as she walked over to him, arms wrapping around his waist and standing on tip-toes. Over the years, Soul had gotten a bit of height on her when he got struck with his final growth spurt. She pressed a kiss to his cheek and giggled lightly.

"Daddy duck doesn't like it when his baby girl gets upset, huh?" She mused lightly. He grumbled and took a huge gulp of his water, his cheeks turning pink. Soul had always been annoyed by the way Spirit, his father-in-law, reacted when something involving Maka happened. He had never thought that he'd end up kind of seeing the older man's point of view, but the minute he had held little Yuki in his arms nearly ten years ago… Yeah, he knew he was going to be a lot like that.

But not in the My-baby-is-growing-up-and-oh-God-what-do-I-do sort of way. Oh, no, he was more of the You-fuck-with-one-of-my-kids-and-I-fuck-with-your-face sort of father.

His mind flashed back to his youngest child's chubby baby face; large green eyes about to start gushing tears and her slightly rumbled silver hair falling like a curtain over her shaking shoulders. He had to take another sip of his water to keep from getting too frustrated with those sleeping, spoiled brats in the other room. "She needs her nap, Maka," He said levelly. In his defense, they both knew it was true. Melody Amber was one of the biggest sweeties in the world but if she did not get her thirty-minute afternoon nap she would turn into the fussiest little demon unleashed upon man. "She's just a baby."

"Well, at least they're all asleep now," She said, letting go of him to get started on dinner.

"… Is… Is it bad that I want to drown Star's kids in the tub the minute they wake up, just to save us some trouble?" He asked gently. Maka glared at him pointedly.

"Soul, that's terrible! We'd have nowhere to stash the bodies, after all!" She huffed while opening the fridge and getting out a few vegetables. He laughed lightly at her rebuttal.

This was why he had married her; they were always on the same wavelength, no matter what was thrown into their controlled chaotic life.

End

(1) Ayame is Japanese for "Iris", a type of flower. Since Tsubaki's name means a flower, my sister recommended I continue with the theme for she and Black*Star's children. If you can't tell, I tend to go to my sister a lot when I need help, given how often my decisions are reached because of what she suggests. :3

(2) Sayuri, from what I was told by the internet, means "Small lily" in Japanese. Same reasoning as her sister's name. If the information on the name is incorrect, I am sorry. (Also, the boys names were just what popped in my head and didn't have any reasoning. Sorry, boys, you aren't as special as your sisters. :D)

Notes:

Where did this story come from? I was checking out the reviews and stories on my account for my "Reflection and Hindsight" segment to make sure I had the order right when I noticed something; exactly one year ago I uploaded to first chapter to Sonata, my first Soul Eater story. And what a lovely year it has been for me, getting to work in this fandom and entertain all you lovely fans. And so, in honor of that, I wrote this short little one shot as a sequel of sorts to that very same story.

Thank you all for making it a wonderful year, and I look forward to giving you all more to love in the year to follow.


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